


Investigating Amber

by sumikko



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-06-27 17:45:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15690288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sumikko/pseuds/sumikko
Summary: Irene Shepard is recruited for C-Sec under the investigations branch and is put to work undercover at Chora's Den as one of its newest exotic dancers straight out of training for the sake of secrecy. What happens as a fellow C-Sec officer, Garrus Vakarian, is introduced to her and grows suspicious of Irene's undercover persona 'Amber'? Trouble ensues as he attempts to get to the bottom of her true intentions, which may not be too far off from his own.(AU Fic with POV that switches between Shepard's and Garrus')





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first time in a long time that I've actually sat down and written any sort of fanfiction, and my first time actually writing fanfiction for Mass Effect. But one night before going to sleep I came up with this idea and I actually really liked it enough to write it. Hope you guys enjoy the first chapter! (And I hope to be update with more sometime before I start another semester at school).
> 
> Also if you got this far and the summary was confusing (because I absolutely suck at summaries) Garrus doesn't actually know that Irene works for C-Sec too (and that they're on the same side basically) and this story is about the trouble that ensues because of it. :)

**2179, Citadel Embassies**

 

“Based on the numerous recommendations I’ve received from your commanding officers I’ve decided that you, Shepard, are an ideal candidate for Citadel Security.” Ambassador Udina spun on the chair behind his desk, turning to face Irene. “Your service record is stellar and the accounts I’ve heard about you only reinforce those details. Once I spoke to Executor Pallin and he expressed his interest in you, I agreed to become your sponsor.”

If it weren’t for the importance of this moment, and her escalating sense of anxiety at the prospect of soon being employed by one of the most prestigious police forces in the galaxy, Irene would have thought Udina reminiscent of one of those mafia bosses in old Earth vids from centuries ago. He wasn’t exactly the friendliest person to be around, but that sort of character just came with the job; Udina got shit done when it needed to be and that was all that mattered. For the moment, however, any sort of observations on his personality were irrelevant.

“Your chances of getting in are looking excellent, so do expect a call from me very soon. I will make sure to contact you with the news once I receive it.” The finality of his statement signified that their half-hour long conversation was over, for which she was thankful.

“Thank you, ambassador.” Irene bowed her head a fraction before making her way out of the office, her previously calm demeanor melting away as a bright smile took its place.

Never in her wildest guesses would she have believed that this would be the reason behind Udina’s summons. Her heart was practically pounding in her chest as she whipped out her omni-tool and quickly strode down the sleek hallway towards the exit, punching in the buttons to call Thomas. He was the one person she always went to first with good news, and for good reason too. They met under the most unconventional circumstances back on Earth and had stuck together on the streets at a young age, becoming akin to siblings over time. When they had no one else look out for them, they looked out for each other and supported one another in their own endeavors.

A small screen popped up moments later and eventually a rather tired looking face appeared on it. When the man on screen realized who it was, he straightened up and his features warmed.

“Irene, hey.”

“Sorry. I woke you up, didn’t I?” She asked, finding a secluded bench near the lobby. “I didn’t check to see what time it was back at the base.”

“Shh, don’t even worry about it.” He waved off her comment. “How’d it go with Udina? It was today that he wanted to speak to you, right?” He asked curiously, running a hand through his dark hair.

“Yeah, and…” She paused in an attempt to build anticipation and create a dramatic effect before continuing. “…I’ve been sponsored! He said the chances of me getting into the force are looking good, so you’re possibly looking at C-Sec’s newest human officer.”

“Really?” Excitement colored his expression, almost wiping away all traces of his exhaustion from his visage. “Man, you got nothing to worry about. I know for a fact you’ll get in. Congrats, Irene.”

“You know I couldn’t have done this without you, Thomas. Gosh, if it weren’t for you I don’t know where I’d be right now.”

The man on screen waved her off again, this time as a gesture born of modesty. “This was all you. I’m very proud of you, and I’m sure your parents would’ve been proud too.”

The mention of her family softened her smile, a pull tugging at her chest at the very thought of them. “I hope so.” After another moment’s pause, she shook her head. “But I’ll let you go now so you can get your rest. We’ll talk later. Good night.”

 “Night.”

 

 

**2181, Chora’s Den**

 

Another night, and another set of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. It’d only been around three months or so since Irene began working at the unsavory gentlemen’s club in the Lower Wards, but at times it felt as if she’d been here forever with how sparse and far in between she received any information for her case. If she had been told that this location would be where she’d be working as an undercover agent at the beginning of her C-Sec training, she wouldn’t have believed it. In fact, maybe she would have even reconsidered her aim for the investigation branch.

Still, if this was to benefit C-Sec in some way and by extension protect innocent lives, then so be it. She could suck it up. And besides, it wasn’t all bad working at Chora’s Den; some nights even featured some rather interesting characters.

“Amber!”

That was her current alias. She turned in the direction of the manager as he motioned towards a now occupied table.

“Go check up on what they need. No one’s gone to them yet.”

“Right away.” Turning on her heels, Irene put on her usual cheery façade and made her way over towards the new customers.

She hoped that on this night she could at least come out with something fruitful.

 

* * *

 

 

Garrus was never one to be particularly enthusiastic towards social outings, and especially not for the kind he currently found himself in. Several of his co-workers at C-Sec had decided to celebrate another of their co-worker's birthday by spending the night at Chora's Den. While Garrus meant to "pass" on the invitation right away, his co-workers hadn't left him much room to dispute. He _was_ going, they’d decided, if anything for the fact that he needed to ‘live a little’.

Going to a nightclub to drink and ogle women was hardly Garrus’ ideal for having fun. He’d much rather head home to his apartment after a long day of work and mind whatever business he usually set out for himself. Outings such as these were impractical and pointless, but since it seemed that there was no getting himself out of the situation, Garrus had no choice but to relent. He rationalized the decision by establishing that this was the first and last time he’d be attending one of their wild get-togethers.

Currently, he stuck around the back of the huddled group, tuning out their chatter as they arrived at their choice of location. Chora’s Den scarcely seemed the place that any well-respected C-Sec officer should catch themselves at any given time, save to lead an investigation or to respond to some call of distress. Yet here they all were off duty, the best of turian, human, and asari in a show of camaraderie, and blissfully ignorant of the possible consequences.

Garrus caught himself. Perhaps he shouldn’t be so quick to place all C-Sec officers on a pedestal, considering some—such as the birthday boy, Aurelius, himself—even frequented the place. But, it was difficult to shake off the ideals his father had tried to instill in him over the years as they reared their ugly head.

In the midst of their conversations, Garrus discovered the true reason behind their decision to come here. While celebrating Aurelius’ birthday with a couple of drinks remained on the forefront, Chora’s Den was ideal because of the turian’s fondness for one of the dancers here. She was supposedly new, but Aurelius had taken a quick liking to her. They were prepared to request a personal dance from her at their table, but of course _after_ their drinks.

On the very few times Garrus had been brought here on specific business, he never really paid much attention to the atmosphere. Now, the way the surroundings overwhelmed his senses made it difficult to ignore. The bass from the song currently playing thumped loudly throughout the dimly lit club and the entire place reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. Occasionally he spotted flashes of people when multicolored lighting struck their faces.

The club was surprisingly busy that night, people crowding either right by the bar, at the nearby tables, or dancing off to the side. Luckily there was enough room for the group to accommodate themselves at one of the tables towards the back of the club.

“Sooo, where is she?” Jonathan, one of the two humans in the group, asked. “With the way you talk about her, I’m expecting a walking goddess.”

“I’m looking.” Aurelius glanced around the club as he searched among the scantily clad erotic dancers that he could spot.

“Isn’t that her over there?” The other human, Lucas, waved his hand to get her attention. “Amber, over here!”

Garrus followed Lucas’ gaze out of curiosity. Surprise overtook him as he watched a human female saunter over in their group’s direction. _This_ was the woman that Aurelius was currently infatuated with? Sure, there were bound to be turians who had a particular thing for humans, but the concept in itself wasn’t all that common considering their races’ past. Garrus himself never found himself necessarily attracted to human females, but he supposed he could see why others would be. Some were not too unlike the asari in their body shape and this Amber was no exception.

“Damn, she’s hot.” Ki’nata, the only asari of their group, began, earning her sounds of approval from the others. “If I’d known, I would’ve come here with you more often, Aurelius.”

It was only once the woman drew closer that Garrus could fully take in her appearance. She was a tad shorter than the other dancers, and had a curvier figure which was only accentuated by the skin-tight black ensemble she wore. Her legs were mostly covered, as were her arms, leaving only a significant portion of her chest area and backside exposed. She had long, cascading dark hair which she wore loose.

There was a pleasant smile on her rouge lips as she paused in front of the group.

“Well, well. It’s been a while, Aurelius.” Amber placed a hand on her hip. “And I see you brought more friends with you this time.” Her eyes ran across the others, including Garrus, before she settled onto Aurelius again. Just how many times had the other turian been here to see her?

Before Aurelius could even get a word out, Jonathan proclaimed, “It’s his birthday today. We wanted to bring him out to celebrate and maybe get you to give us a little dance?”

“You mean give _him_ a little dance.” Ki’nata cut in with a smirk. “But we sure wouldn’t mind if we got a show too.”

Amber laughed at the group’s interjections before turning her gaze to Aurelius. She took a couple of steps closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You should have told me it was your birthday! Your first drink will be on me.” She gave him a little wink. “I’ll have Teina take care of your orders before I come back.” With that Amber dropped her hand from Aurelius and turned to head over to the bar, hips swaying as she walked away from them.

Once she was out of range, Garrus turned to Aurelius. “A human?” He didn’t mean it in a derogatory way. He was only interested in what Aurelius had to say about this.

“Just wait ‘till you see her dance, Vakarian. You won’t be so opposed to her afterwards.” His mandibles flared as he glanced in the direction she had ventured off to.

Garrus had been about to argue that he wasn’t trying to express any opposition towards his interest in her, but he chose to drop the topic. Somehow he knew he wouldn’t hear the end of it, and if he were to be here for a few more hours, he’d try to make the experience as tolerable as possible.      

Their drinks came eventually courtesy of the asari waitress, Teina, who informed them that Amber would be with them in just a while. It wasn’t until the group had their fifth round of drinks, and their third asari dancer, that Amber returned to the much livelier group.

“You finally here to dance for us, Amber?” Aurelius asked excitedly, and quite clearly already intoxicated. She responded with a smile before getting herself up on the small platform in front of their table, eliciting some enthusiastic chatter from the group.

“You bet.”

Garrus couldn’t quite pinpoint what the expression she wore meant, being as unfamiliar with human culture and their ways of communication as he was. He only really knew basics, just enough to get him by while working with them. Though now he guessed—given the context—that she was being rather coquettish and particularly towards Aurelius.

Once she caught the beat of the music, Amber began to move across the platform with a grace and sensuality that seemed on par with the asari dancers they’d seen. This show of flexibility demonstrated that although she was relatively new to Chora's, she was very much experienced. Unlike the previous girls though, there was something different about the way that Amber danced which had Garrus inexplicably hooked. The particular air about her hinted at this woman being more than what she appeared to be. Her dark eyes seemed to promise mystery, though he later wrote it off as a feeling born from his lack of experience in pinpointing what certain human expressions meant.

Whatever the case was, Garrus had to turn away. He found it odd that he was scrutinizing her so deeply. Was it because of Aurelius’ interest in her?

Garrus looked back and found that her gaze had settled on his own briefly before breaking off, leaving him with a sense of unease that he was unfamiliar with. Only very few people had the power to elicit this reaction from him, and he thought it strange that she of all the others would be one of them.

Amber eventually slid off the platform and brought her rhythmic moves closer to Aurelius, remaining only inches away from his touch. Only Garrus could tell that the other was noticeably aroused and shook his head as he took a drink from the glass he left nearby. After Amber finalized her dance, Aurelius was left reaching out towards her retreating form.

“Wait, come back.” His words slurred, and Amber gave him a smile.

“Oh, quit being a creep and let the girl rest.” Jonathan quipped. “I’m sure she’ll still be around, right Amber?”

“I can stick around with you all for a while, as long as I’m not called up by someone else.” She looked between him and Aurelius.

This seemed to placate Aurelius as he bobbed his head in a nod. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Have Teina bring us some more drinks.”

In a matter of a few moments, it seemed that the drunken group had all but forgotten about Amber as they summoned Teina for their drinks and afterwards began discussing the most recent game of soccer between a human team and an asari one. Considering he wasn’t much of a sports fan, Garrus did well to steer away from the conversation.

Garrus noticed that Amber stepped closer to him, perhaps due to her own lack of interest in the new topic. It could've also been the fact that unlike the others in the group, he wasn’t intoxicated.

“Rough night?” She kept a respectable distance from him as she crossed her arms under her chest. He was grateful for that, especially when the uneasiness from earlier had begun to settle in again.

“You could say that.” Garrus turned to get a better look at her before taking a curt swig of his drink.

Amber glanced at the group and then returned her gaze to him. “They sure are a wild bunch, for C-Sec officers I mean.”

He shook his head. “Lucky for me they aren’t usually this bad when they’re sober, otherwise I don’t know if I could stand them.”

His comment earned a chuckle from her. “Well, at least they balance out all the serious work, right? I’m sure it must be refreshing once in a while.”

“I guess so.” He admitted, almost reluctantly. “But I wouldn’t consider dragging me out here as ‘balancing out the serious work’.” Garrus placed the empty glass he’d been fidgeting with down on the table.

One of her brows arched slightly. “I think a lot of people would disagree with you on that one. Maybe if you have another drink or two, you can relax. I’m sure you don’t get a lot of free time like this in your line of work.”

Her concern caught him off guard and for a moment the sense of unease faded away. Maybe she wasn’t nearly so ‘mysterious’ as he made her out to be.

“…I’ll be fine. Plus, someone’s got to make sure all these guys get home safe.” His head jerked towards the group behind him.

Amber smiled at him. “Noted.”

It looked as if she was about to comment on something else when someone called her name from afar. Probably another customer. She glanced in their direction, giving a wave before looking back to Garrus.

“Well, duty calls. If you or anyone else needs anything just let me know.” She paused briefly. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Garrus.”

“Garrus.” She repeated. “Alright then, I’ll be seeing you around.”

 

* * *

 

 Just as she expected before she began her shift that day, it had been another relatively “quiet” night, no minor hints or even leads to base herself off on or report. Looking back, the shift seemed pretty dull save for the parts in which she interacted with Aurelius and his group of friends—even the one who seemed to be a little stuck up, by which she meant Garrus.

A smile crept onto her lips as she remembered the bunch, shaking her head after a few moments. While that had been fun and all, she could not wait to get home to her apartment, wipe away her make-up, shower, and change into some comfortable pajamas. Before she could get to that, however, she knew she had to call Licinius and give him the status for the night. And considering that the streets weren’t as full of people as they normally would be due to the hour it was, Irene didn’t feel the need to make it back to her apartment to make the call. It wasn’t as if she were about to reveal sensitive information anyway.

She activated her omni-tool and set up the link to call her boss. Licinius answered quickly; he’d been awaiting her call just as he normally did.

“Irene.” The turian nodded in greeting to her. “Anything come up?”

“No, nothing tonight.” She sighed softly. “I have my day off tomorrow and I’m not even sure what I’ll do. It’s not like I can show up to see what’s going on since they won’t be expecting me. And that’s not the type of place ‘I’ typically hang around in if it’s not for work.”

“Just take a break. You deserve it.”

Her lips turned up into a small smile. “Guess I will. I’ll be checking up with you soon.”

“Please do.”

The screen went dark and Irene exited out of the calling menu before setting off her omni-tool and rounding the street corner as she continued on her way home.

 

* * *

 

Garrus’ eyes narrowed, watching as that woman, Amber, walked away from where she had currently been. Not too long before, he had been busy ensuring that the last members of his group made it to their respective apartments without incident. It was only once he began his trek back home that he spotted her, recognizing her despite the drastic change in attire. He’d known that he should’ve headed straight to his apartment, but curiosity and suspicion overtook him, pushing him to discreetly follow her.

Although he hadn’t caught the beginning of the conversation, Garrus felt he’d heard enough once he heard her mention there being ‘nothing’ that night. His suspicion only grew as the discussion between her and the unnamed person came to an end. A lot didn’t add up, but then again he didn’t know her very well either to assume.

_Spirits_. The last thing he needed was to conduct some silly investigation on an exotic dancer from Chora’s Den, but Garrus just couldn’t shake away the gut feeling that something was not right here and he was determined to find out for himself who this Amber really was.


	2. Chapter 2

**2174, Earth**

“Let’s go!”

Thomas’ call spurred Irene into action. After sparing the cashier an impish smirk, she turned quickly on her heel and followed Thomas out of the convenience store.

 “Hey, _stop_!”

Of course, neither of them stopped. Irene pushed herself to a full sprint and eventually fell behind Thomas, who led them down a series of familiar streets and alleys until they were absolutely certain that no one had chased after them. This was their standard routine whenever they ran low on food, one of which they didn’t dare repeat in the same place or even city.

Instead they wandered like nomads and did whatever it took to survive wherever they ended up. In cases like these, the pair stole if it meant they could have a semi-decent meal to keep them going for another day. It was a dog-eat-dog world out there, especially for orphans like themselves, but their drive for life is what helped them endure it all. At least, that was how Irene saw it.

It took them some time, but they finally settled at the safehouse they’d found a few hours prior to their heist. The safehouse was an abandoned restaurant with most of its entrances and windows boarded up. Its deteriorating condition only showed its age, and in a county like Los Angeles, that meant that the building was up for development soon. Even before the manufacturing boom on Earth, Los Angeles had always been a place which rebuilt over and over again upon historical landmarks and edifices. It wouldn’t be long before this too would become just another sleek building among many.

For the time being, and at least until they had to move out again, this was their makeshift home.

Chuckling triumphantly, Thomas cleared a dusty metal counter of its contents with a single swipe of his arm before unloading the stolen goods that he’d stashed under his coat. He’d gotten a lot of junk food, mostly chips, cookies, a few of those pre-packaged sandwiches and wraps, a couple of water bottles, and some other minor things. Years of handling the streets alone had practically made Thomas an expert at stealing by now, but it still was any wonder that he managed to fit all of those goods under his coat. It was almost comical.

“That was _too_ easy.” He looked among the stolen items and picked up one of the sandwiches wrapped in plastic, holding it up to Irene. “I even managed to snag your favorite. A nice little tuna sandwich for the lovely lady.”

Irene shook her head, fighting the smile that threatened to find its way to her lips as she snatched the sandwich from him. “You took too long this time. I had to resort to flirting with the guy just to keep him distracted, and he was not cute at all.”

“Hey, you can’t rush a thief. I’ll have you know that there is a particular art to stealing. And being the professional that I am, I can tell you for a fact that rushed jobs are never successful.” Thomas grabbed a new pack of cigarettes from his pocket and tore off its plastic wrap. Noticing her rather skeptical look, he asked, “What? You know it’s true.”

 “ _Right_. If you say so.” Irene opened the sandwich’s packaging and began digging in. She wasn’t sure whether it was her hunger or her love for tuna, but what she did know was that she found that the sandwich hit the spot just right.

She walked up to the counter and grabbed one of the water bottles before descending to the floor in a cross-legged position. As she continued eating, Irene observed Thomas and the way he pulled out a lighter from the backpack he’d left hidden to light one of his cigarettes. Soon, the familiar scent of tobacco filled the air around them and Irene couldn’t help the feeling of nostalgia that washed over her. She thought of her father, who smoked not nearly as much as Thomas did, but enough that the scent often clung to him. She missed him and her mother more and more every day.

“Aren’t you gonna eat?” Irene found herself asking once she pulled herself away from her memories.

Thomas leaned his back against the metal counter and took a drag of his cigarette, flicking off the ashes that built up at the end and shook his head. “Maybe later.”

The silence that followed persisted for quite a while, but it was nothing Irene wasn’t used to. What did catch her attention, however, was that Thomas was no longer smiling. His expression had grown rather grave, as if something had occurred to him. Irene had been about to ask him what was wrong, but he spoke before she had the chance to.

“We can’t keep doing this forever.”

She finished the last of her sandwich, arching a brow. “What do you mean?”

He took a final drag of his cigarette, tossed it to the floor and stomped it out. “ _This_. The stealing, the running, the barely scraping by…” His brows furrowed together. “We need to do something.”

Irene blinked, taken aback by this sudden expression. Sure, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t thought of trying to escape the situation they were in. They weren’t exactly living the most ideal life out in the streets, but at least they had a system that kept them alive. And in the end, wasn’t that what mattered most? What else could they possibly do?

“Something? Like what?” She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she opened her mind up to her doubts. Doubts which she had visited all too often in the past couple of years. “We’re _nothing_ , Thomas. We have no family, money, connections, education, experience…the list just goes on. No one will hire us, and it’s not like we can go back to school now. We’d have no way to sustain ourselves.”

 If anything, Irene figured she was being realistic. With the current state of their society, there was no real way for them to get themselves out of their rut. It’s these very thoughts that often kept her up at night.

But would they really be doing this for the rest of their lives? It was easy to say that now, being as young as they were, but she knew deep down that Thomas was right. Still, she saw no light at the end of the tunnel; no way out of their situation.

Thomas glanced at her, expression softening. “Well, there is one thing.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

“We can join the Alliance, Irene.”

“What? The Alliance, as in the _military_?” Irene couldn’t believe what he was suggesting, but he confirmed what he said with a nod. “You can’t be serious…”

Thomas moved from his place by the counter and came up close to her, crouching down to get at her eye level. “I’m totally serious. I mean, think about it. We’d be getting free food, housing, and just about everything we need. And they get paid too.”

Irene looked into his eyes, and she could see the determination that burned from within. He really thought this would work, and knowing Thomas, he could make it happen. He was always that sort of person once he set his mind to it. She released a sigh.

“There’s one problem.” She placed the leftover plastic wrapping of the sandwich on the ground. “You have to be eighteen to enlist. That’s two years away, for both of us.”

“That’s the least of our problems. We can handle another two years if it means that we’ve got this waiting for us. Plus, I am the master thief after all. I think I can keep that up until then.” Thomas cracked a smile and Irene snorted, looking away.

“I could see you doing that. The military stuff. But me? You know damn well that I’m not at all soldier material.” Irene didn’t even think she could picture herself in the uniform.

“Hey, you held your own pretty well the day I met you. And several other times since then whenever guys decided to get too handsy.” He gently knocked at her shoulder with his fist. “I’d say with some formal training, you’d do well for yourself. And if you ever doubt yourself or need the emotional support, you’ll never be alone.”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“Because I’ll be there. Always.”

 

* * *

 

 

**2181, Citadel**

 

Irene stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself as she moved to stand in front of bathroom mirror. She wiped away at the fog that accumulated during the shower, just enough to be able to see her reflection. After a few moments of looking at herself, she dragged her hands over her face for a moment and sighed.

Today was her first day off in a while and she had absolutely no idea what she’d occupy herself with. The way she saw it she could either just laze around all day, maybe watch a couple of flicks, or even read a book as long as it kept her in her apartment. Or she could go out to eat, window shop a little, and well--that’s just about as much as she could come up with for activities outside the home.

After eliciting another sigh, Irene reached for her toothbrush and decided that for the moment she would just focus on her morning routine until she could come up with a plan. Somewhere in the middle of her whole routine, her omni-tool came to life and pinged to indicate an incoming call. When she looked to see who the contact was, she reached for the wall’s controls to turn down the music she had playing and answered the call.

A screen popped up on her omni-tool and Thomas’ smiling face could be seen on the other side.

“Morning, princess.”

Irene rolled her eyes and went back to applying lotion on her face. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”

“And that’s exactly why I do it.” He paused. “Did I catch you in the middle of something?”

“Not really.” When she finished with the lotion, she turned her gaze onto his image. “I was just getting ready for something.”

“Going out?”

“Don’t know yet.” Irene turned so her back faced the mirror, leaning against the bathroom counter. “So, what’s up?”

Thomas beamed at her. “Well, I was just told that I’m getting shore leave next week. And I’m thinking of visiting a certain someone at the Citadel.”

“Wonder who that could be.” Irene grinned, excited at the prospect of seeing her friend after spending so long apart. “How much time are you getting?”

“A week.” He shrugged. “Not bad, really. Better than the last time.”

“That’s true.” Hell, she couldn’t even remember the last time they’d seen each other. This time it would be a lot different, though. “You know, you’re going to have to get used to calling me Amber rather than Irene this time around. Can’t be giving my true identity away to others.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re not Irene the C-Sec officer anymore, but Amber the stripper.” Thomas couldn’t contain his laughter.

Irene rolled her eyes, not bothering to correct him. “Whatever I am now, I need you to promise me that you won’t slip up.”

“I won’t. These lips are sealed.” He looked behind him as if someone had called him before looking back to the screen. “I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later to let you know more of the details.”

“Sounds good. See you soon.” With that she ended their call, and focused on her reflection in the mirror again, smiling.

It had been so long since she’d seen Thomas. His presence would be a welcomed one, especially considering how little friends she had that were aware of her true self.

 

* * *

 

 

Irene eventually decided to go out for a change and her first stop was an open-air bar and restaurant named The Monte Cristo. She came here from time to time and had even become acquainted with the bartender, though not of her own volition. The salarian had talked up a storm the first time she’d stopped by, and although she tried to keep a low profile, she couldn’t help but engage in conversation with him. He was a very sociable guy, though she figured that was just a part of the job. Now as she was led to the bar area by the host, Irene spotted him behind the bar as he chatted away with an asari.

Irene made her way to the counter and requested a stool that put her at quite a distance from the asari as well as the other patrons that were already seated in the bar area. It was not long before the bartender approached her with a smile.

“Ms. Garcia. It’s always a pleasure.” He began to wipe down the portion of the counter that was in front of her with a rag and she smiled in return.

“Joran, there’s no need to be so formal. You know you could just call me Amber.” She adjusted herself in her seat, placing her arms over the now dry counter.

“Of course. But formalities are what give this restaurant its character. It makes it ‘fancy’.” He said, adding his own air quotes at the end.

She laughed at his silly comment. “If you say so.”

“So, what’ll it be?”

Irene pondered for a moment, glancing at the arrangement of alcohol behind him before looking back at him. “Do you think you can make me a mimosa?”

“Ah, yes. A human favorite, but the asari seemed to have picked up on it as well.” Joran turned around and began grabbing a bottle of champagne. “Coming right up.”

Irene watched as the salarian worked with precision to fill her a tall glass. He soon finished and placed the drink in front of her along with a napkin.

“Here you are.” He said and began to put away the bottles of champagne and orange juice he’d taken out. “Anything else? Would you like one of the food menus?”

She smiled up at him, “Yeah, I think I’ll take one. I might order something later.”

Joran slid a menu to her and she nodded in thanks before he quickly went to tend to the other guests further down the bar. Irene brought the glass to her lips and took a sip of her drink, watching her surroundings rather than glancing at the menu itself. This had become almost second nature to her now. After spending so much time undercover in Chora’s Den, she couldn’t help it. Even if the likelihood of finding suspicious activity here was low.

As she took in her surroundings, she caught sight of someone heading in her direction. Out of the corner of her eyes, and as the person came closer to her, Irene realized that it was none other than the turian from the night before, Garrus. She allowed a brilliant smirk to cross her lips as she nursed her drink. This would certainly be interesting.

“Day drinking? I don’t think I’d blame you after the crazy night you had, and all the people you dealt with.” Garrus said as he took a seat in the stool next to her.

Irene snorted as she glanced in his direction. “If I really wanted to day drink, I think I would’ve had something stronger.” She motioned to her drink. “This doesn’t technically count as day drinking because it’s a _mimosa_. They’re meant for brunch.”

At Garrus’ silent stare, she felt the need to elaborate. “A mimosa is an alcoholic drink that humans have at this weird time between breakfast and lunch, like it is right now. It’s not really strong, but it definitely adds a little pizzazz to the meal.”

“Ah,” He gave her a nod, and Irene somehow knew that he still didn’t really get it. Maybe she should have brushed it off as simply a “human thing”.

“Anyway, what brings you here?” She had noticed that he had his work armor on, after all. “Patrolling the area?”

“I’m on my lunch break. And this is the closest place to my station.”

“So you’ve come here before?”

“Whenever I can, yeah. They have some pretty good dextro food.”

“Hm. That explains why it seems popular with the turians too.” She smiled, turning to face him a bit more. “I’m surprised that you would come sit with me. You didn’t seem all that comfortable with me before.”

Garrus leaned forward and folded his arms over the counter. “That was last night, and under different circumstances. Aurelius actually told me a little more about you today.”

“Really? I’m surprised he didn’t wake up this morning worse for wear after all the drinks he put down.” Irene chuckled as she recalled the other turian and his behavior at the club.

“He’s not doing too great, but he’s working. He wouldn’t have heard the end of it from the boss if he didn’t show up for work today.” Garrus watched as Joran stopped by to offer him a glass of water, which he accepted. After filling up his glass, Joran left once more. “But he told me that you were new to Chora’s Den. I’m guessing you might be new to the Citadel too?”

Irene swirled the drink in her glass, wondering what piqued his sudden interest in her. Maybe it was harmless. “Yeah I started a few months ago. It’s probably been the craziest few months of my life.” She began recalling her scripted background. “And I moved here recently too. I’m originally from Terra Nova.”

Garrus nodded, holding his glass of water. “I have a co-worker from Terra Nova. From Scott if I remember right. Are you from there too by any chance?”

“Born and raised in Scott.” Irene took another drink from her mimosa. “I didn’t think there’d be very many others from there. I guess considering how big this station is, I’m bound to run into others.”

Garrus had been about to respond when Joran approached them once again and cut in the conversation, “Are you ready to order something from the menu, Ms. Garcia?”

“Oh, yes. I’ll have the Thessian omelette.” She glanced over at Garrus, passing the menu over to him. “Would you like anything? It’ll be my treat.”

He took a drink from his water and began to wave her off. “No, it’s fine. You don’t have to.”

“I insist. You’re on your lunch break so you may as well eat something.”

After a moment’s hesitation, he looked down at the menu and said, “Well, alright. I’ll have whatever the dextro special is today.”

Joran took the menu after and smiled. “I’ll put your order in. One of the waiters will bring it right out.”

Once Joran moved away from them again, Garrus set his glass down and continued. “So, what brought you to the Citadel? I mean, especially after living in one place your whole life.”

Irene thought over this before answering. “I came here for a change of pace and new opportunities. Not that I’m having such an easy start. I’m pretty much working the same kind of job I did back home, but I hope to change that soon though.”

“You know,” He turned his gaze back to hers. “There are plenty of other…exotic clubs on the Citadel that are far less dangerous, yet you chose Chora’s Den regardless. Any particular reason why?”

Irene blinked in surprise, his question giving her pause. After a moment, she grinned. “Careful there. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to interrogate me, _officer_.” She meant it as a joke, but there was an underlying motive as she tried to probe him for the turn his inquiries took.

His mandibles flicked before he began to chuckle. “Officer, huh? I did mention I was on my lunch break, right?” Garrus turned away from her again, focusing on the bottles of alcohol lined up against the wall. “I meant nothing by it; I’m just a little curious that’s all. Most people would see that club as the last place to look for a job.”

“Right.” She cocked her head to the side. “Trust me, I definitely heard my fair share of horror stories about the place. In my opinion, it just added to its charm. It made it exciting. Plus, there were a lot of job openings available.”

He shook his head at her response. “I don’t get what kind of charm that sorta place would have to anyone. For your sake though, I do hope you’re careful. That sort of excitement at a club like that is what could get you killed.”

“You underestimate me, Garrus.” She held up her glass to take the last sip of her drink. “I can hold my own.”

It wasn’t long after that a waiter arrived with their food. They spoke little from then on, Irene being the one to ask him a couple of questions this time around before he finished up his meal and claimed his break had ended. As she watched him walk away, she frowned lightly.

Had Garrus been anything other than a C-Sec officer, Irene would have seen him as a possible threat. Luckily, he wasn’t. She sensed that the motive behind his inquiries was fair, after all if she were in his place she probably would’ve done the same. Of course there was reason to be suspicious of her, who wouldn’t be?

Still, with the way he seemed to have been interested in her, she knew she had to be careful. After all this time and precaution, Irene couldn’t afford to have her identity being revealed now, even if they were on the same side. The consequences for being exposed could be too great.

 

* * *

 

_You underestimate me, Garrus. I can hold my own._

Those words were precisely why Garrus now sat in his apartment, typing away at his laptop. He’d only just gotten home from work for the day, and after spending the majority of it replaying his conversation with the human woman in his head, he knew this is what he had to do. He intended to find out more about this Amber Garcia.

While she had been compliant and answered his questions about herself when asked, Garrus still wasn’t inclined to believe her story. He planned to search her background, her records, everything and anything he could find on her.

After cracking into C-Sec’s databases, he typed in the name _Amber Garcia_. Sure enough, a profile came up on her which he immediately clicked open. The profile contained a picture, confirming that this was in fact her, and held some other information. He quickly scrolled down to read its contents.

Her place of birth, the date of her arrival to the Citadel, and other information stated all checked out—both from what she had expressed and what Aurelius had told him. When he attempted to check her record, Amber was completely clean. There was no criminal record to speak of.

He stared at the screen intently for a few moments before leaning back on his couch. This didn’t seem right. While it all checked out, he was well aware that plenty of people went out of their way to get their records wiped or go by new aliases to cover their asses. Maybe if he just dug a little deeper, he could trace back to see if there was more to her profile than what appeared.

Garrus felt a renewed interest to get to the bottom of this as he looked at her smiling image on the screen. He knew what he’d heard the night before, and he just couldn’t shake the hunch he had about her.

In the past, his hunch had always proved to be accurate and because of it he intended to follow through with his investigation.


	3. Chapter 3

Irene sat waiting on a bench, brown eyes flickering from person to person as they entered the docking bay with their luggage in tow. Today was finally the day that she would get to see Thomas again and she was beyond excited. It took her all her strength to stop herself from getting out of her seat and going after him herself.

Luckily, she didn’t have to. The crowd eventually began thinning out, and it was then that she caught a glimpse of a tall man with a mop of black hair whom she immediately recognized as Thomas. He hadn’t spotted her yet, for he was glancing around at the people who remained in the docking bay. Before he even had the chance to spot her, Irene ran up to him and captured him in the tightest hug she could muster.

“Whoa!” Thomas was knocked back a few steps, being taken by surprise as he had only seen her coming at the last possible moment. When he looked down at her, he smiled warmly. “Hey there.”

“God, I’ve missed you so much.” Irene kept clinging onto him for a few seconds longer before pulling away and meeting his gaze. “It feels so weird being able to actually see you in the flesh and not just through a screen.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.” He gave her a quick once-over. “You look good.”

She scoffed and waved him off. “I know. I always do.”

“Uh-huh.” Thomas chuckled, readjusting the backpack he had hanging over his shoulder. “Why don’t we grab a bite and catch up? I have to book a place first though—”

Irene took one of the bags he carried in his hands and began walking towards the exit. “Just stay at my place for the week. It’ll be easier on you and your wallet.”

Thomas moved to catch up. “No, I couldn’t ask that much from you.”

“It’s the least I can do.” She insisted.

His visage momentarily expressed how conflicted he was at her proposal before finally relenting with a sigh. “I didn’t wanna intrude on your space, but alright. I’ll stay at your place.”

“Good.” Irene grinned in his direction. “You can sleep on the couch.”

It took them around fifteen minutes via skycar to get back to her apartment. Once they made it inside, Irene placed his bags by the couch while he inspected the place.

“Nice. Kinda small, but nice.” He then walked over and plopped himself down on the couch.

“Well, it is just me living here. I don’t need anything bigger.” She took a moment to step into her bedroom and retrieve some things for him, mainly a pillow and a blanket as she knew he would need them for later. “You want anything before we head out? Water? Beer?”

“You actually have beer?” He asked as he caught the pillow and blanket she tossed to him. “I might have one later. But I’ll take some water for now.”

At his request, Irene jogged over to the fridge in her kitchen. As she grabbed one of the water bottles inside, her omni-tool pinged to alert her of an incoming call. When she saw whom the contact was, she quickly went back to Thomas, handed him his water bottle, and headed towards her bedroom.

“I gotta answer this! I’ll be out in a bit!”

Irene entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her before answering the call.

Licinius’ image soon popped up on the screen. “Irene. Are you alone?”

“Yes, sir.” She moved to sit on her bed and glanced back at his image. “Has something come up?”

“We’ve received word from a few of our outside contacts that a red sand dealer by the name of Adrien Dubois will be making rounds at Chora’s tonight.” The detective leaned back in his chair. “He may have connections to some of the people we’ve been looking for—those involved in the bigger ring, but we don’t know for certain.”

Irene could already take a guess as to where this was leading to. “And that’s why you need me to find out.”

“Precisely. We need you to establish a presence with him, anything that’ll get him talking so long as you don’t put yourself in too much danger.” He paused, reaching for something outside of the screen’s view. “Offer yourself up for a couple of dances, then try to get him to sell you red sand. I’m wiring you the credits now along with a dossier of the man.”

“I should get him to trust me then. At least a little before I ask him for red sand.”

“As best you can. People of his background often find that difficult.” Licinius faced her again. “But the exchange must begin during your shift tonight. We don’t know whether we’ll get another opportunity like this. Hopefully in time, this will yield the results we need.”

“Got it.” She said with a nod.

“Please fill me in at the end of the night.”

“Will do.”

Irene stayed in bed even after the call had ended as she contemplated the mission ahead of her. This was probably the most excitement she’d gotten from her post since she started. It was her first opportunity to truly make contact, to be productive, but that also didn’t take away from how nerve-wracking the entire situation was. Even though this was exactly what she was trained for, there was quite a bit at stake. Still, Irene was determined to not let them down.

She got up from her bed and left her room, crossing the hallway to peek around the corner into the living room where Thomas waited for her.

“Shall we get going? I’m starving.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m surprised you wanted to come with me tonight, Vakarian.” Aurelius glanced over at Garrus who fell into step next to him. “I thought you didn’t like this place.”

“I couldn’t let you come back by yourself. I mean, look at what happened the last time we all came.” This reasoning wasn’t a complete lie. Aurelius was a friend of his, even if he annoyed him more often than anything, but that still meant he looked out for him. The fact that this opportunity appeased his true motives happened to be a plus.

“I’m sure that’s the case.” Aurelius eyed him suspiciously, his tone nothing less of sarcastic. “I have a feeling that it’s something else that made you want to tag along. You _have_ been asking me an awful lot about Amber…”

He was perceptive, he’d give him that.

“I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Oh, sure. That’s how it starts. Soon enough you’ll be wanting to take her away from me, even though you were the one that didn’t even like her at first.”

Garrus snorted. “That’s not the case at all.” Aurelius couldn’t even begin to guess Garrus’ true intentions.

“I’ll have you know that she’s already spoken for.”

“I’m not even interested in her.”

Aurelius seemed bewildered for a moment before regaining his composure. “Really? Well, good because I’m going to be the one to date her one of these days."

Garrus had stopped listening to his nonsense, already searching and scanning the perimeter once they entered the club. It was another busy night, which initially made it difficult for him to find her. It was when they sat down at a table that he found Amber, engaged in conversation with some unfamiliar human male. He whispered something into her ear and she laughed, completely oblivious to his staring from the other side of the club.

Aurelius followed his gaze curiously, growing irritated as he witnessed the scene before them. “Hey, who’s that guy getting all handsy with her?”

“Calm down.” Garrus folded his arms over the table. “They’re just talking. We don’t need you starting any trouble.”

In that while, Teina, the asari waitress from their last visit, approached them. “Hey fellas it’s good to see you two again.” She took out a small datapad from her pocket. “Anything I can get you?”

“Can you tell Amber to come over?” Aurelius immediately piped up and Garrus shook his head.

“We’ll have a round of whiskey for now.” Garrus cut in, answering for the both of them.

Teina simply laughed as she typed out their order. “I’ll bring your drinks over in a bit.” Then she gazed at Aurelius, giving him a wink. “And I’ll make sure to let Amber know that her number one fan is here for her.”

“Thanks.” Once Teina was out of earshot, Aurelius turned to Garrus. “See? First it’s number one fan. Soon enough, it’ll be boyfriend.”

Garrus merely let out a short breath. “I’m starting to think that maybe I _should’ve_ let you come on your own.”

Probably around half an hour and a couple of drinks later, Amber made her way over to their table with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that guys. I got caught up a little longer than I would’ve liked.” She looked between the two. “How are you, Aurelius? Garrus?”

Garrus sat silently in his seat and instead let Aurelius chatter away about how he’d missed her and what he’d been up to these last few days. He noticed that Amber occasionally would look to him—hell, she even appeared concerned. But he couldn’t be bothered to really chat with her. In the while she was away, Amber had seemed awfully close to that human he’d seen her with before. And from the looks of the present company that human was with, he was a shady character in Garrus’ book.

 _Could there be a connection between them? Was he the one that Amber had spoken to on that night?_ He couldn’t be sure, but he intended to at least see if there was anything more he could gather on them in the time that he remained at the club.

At some point during their conversation, a human waitress tapped Amber on the shoulder with a smirk. “Adrien’s asking for you again. Probably shouldn’t keep him waiting.”

When she walked away, Amber looked back at them. “Guess that’s my call.”

Aurelius cupped one of her hands with both of his before she could leave. “Promise me you’ll come back and say goodbye before your shift ends.”

That earned him a playful smile. “I promise. I’ll see you later.” Amber didn’t spare Garrus a departing glance this time as she pulled away from Aurelius and headed back to the shady human.

Aurelius watched her the entire way, then downed the rest of his drink with a sigh. “That guy’s really greedy.”

“Yeah, or maybe they know each other.” Garrus commented offhandedly.

“You think so?” He turned in their direction. “Huh. I guess they do look a little chummy. But that guy looks like a slippery bastard! There’s no way Amber could really be friends with him.”

“You’re giving her the benefit of the doubt?”

“Well, sure. She’s a nice girl.”

“Even though she works at a place like _this_?”

“When did you become so judgmental?” Aurelius leaned forward and took what was left of Garrus’ drink for himself. “Just because she works here, doesn’t mean she’s like some of the scum that come here.”

While he did have a point, Garrus didn’t really care to—nor could he—admit that the other could be right. There were just too many pieces that didn’t seem to fit in Amber’s story since the day he met her and during the times he’d run into her since.

And now, it was obvious to him that there was more to her than what she presented to him and his friends, simply by the way she interacted with this “Adrien” person.

Rather than continue arguing with Aurelius over her, Garrus asked him about an incident at work today—well-aware that once he’d get started he probably wouldn’t stop. But that was exactly what he needed, to keep his friend distracted as he discreetly observed Amber’s every move.

 

* * *

 

 

She hated the feeling of Adrien’s arm wrapped around her waist. She hated talking to him in the flirtatious manner that she’d been doing even more. But this was important. It was all an act, and she had him exactly where she wanted him.

They’d left Chora’s Den together right after her shift and were walking the busy streets of the Lower Wards, not too far from the club itself.

“So, you’ll give me my fix then?” She practically purred, and he smirked down at her.

“Yeah, I have some of the stuff with me. Always do.” He took them around a corner into a dimly lit alley, away from all the bustle. “But of course, it’ll come at a price.”

She held a credit chit in front of them that she’d pulled out of her purse. “Way ahead of you, Adrien. I could transfer the credits to you whenever you’d like.”

Adrien gave her a squeeze before pulling away from her. “Now that’s what I like to hear, babe.”

He reached into the pocket on the inside of his jacket and had been about to hand over a small bag of red sand to her when a voice boomed from behind them.

“Pretty ballsy of you to be dealing red sand out in public like this, considering it’s against the law.”

Irene froze, a mixture of emotions—though namely confusion—rising to the surface as both she and Adrien turned to face Garrus.

He stood not too far from the entrance of the alley, gun out and aimed at the pair.

“What—Who the hell’s this guy?” Adrien asked, outraged as he glanced at Irene. “You know him, Amber? Are you with him?”

Before she could even begin to deny any connection to him, Garrus interrupted. “I work for C-Sec.”

_Just what the hell was he doing?_

Irene knew that he was breaking several of the regulations in place just by being here. She didn’t understand his motivations, why he’d bothered to come this way off the clock just to bust them for red sand, but at least now his cold demeanor towards her back at the club made sense if nothing else.

As Garrus took a few steps closer to them, Adrien pulled out a gun of his own from beneath his jacket and aimed it at Garrus.

“C-Sec, huh? I don’t see a fucking uniform.”

In that time, Irene glanced down at her purse. It was still open from when she’d taken out the credit chit earlier. Without arousing suspicion from either of them, she slowly began to take out her own handgun in case things happened to go south—of which she was certain of—and held it hidden behind her purse.

“I don’t have to prove my certification to you.”

“Well, whatever the fuck you are, you’re pissing me off.” Adrien waved his gun a little as he spoke. “Look. We could either do this the easy way or the hard way. Easy way is, you leave and you get to live. It’s a pretty reasonable offer, if you ask me. But the hard way is, I kill you and that’ll be that.”

“I’m not leaving.” He said without an ounce of hesitation in his voice.

Adrien sighed dramatically and shook his head. “Suit yourself, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

With that final phrase, Adrien began to shoot at Garrus, who quickly found shelter behind a dumpster and responded in kind.

Quickly, and before the situation grew more out of hand than it already had, the once silent Irene pointed her gun at Adrien’s head from behind and pulled the trigger. With a sharp groan, Adrien dropped to the floor, his gun clattering down by his side.

Irene stared at the blood that pooled beside the man’s head for a few moments, only tearing her gaze away when she heard movement. Garrus had moved from behind the dumpster, eyes and gun trained on her to which she mimicked. She didn’t plan on shooting him, but she hoped to deter him from shooting her after what she’d just done.

“Garrus…” She began cautiously, choosing her words well. “This _really_ isn’t what you think it is.”

“So you’re telling me that you weren’t just trying to buy red sand from him.” He nodded to her handgun. “And that you didn’t just carry a concealed weapon.”

“It isn’t—”

“Just who are you, really?”

Irene spared another glance at Adrien on the floor, the consequences of what had happened finally crashing down upon her. Her first opportunity to prove herself and it blew up in her face. She cursed.

“Damn it.” She hissed. “You really screwed things over for me.”

“What are you talking about?”

 “This!” She motioned at the dead guy on the floor and sighed as she lowered her gun. “Licinius is going to kill me.”

“Licinius?” That gave Garrus pause. “Detective Dardonis?”

Irene turned to glare at him. “Yes, Detective Licinius Dardonis.” She ran a hand through her dark hair, not believing that she was about to reveal her identity like this. “You really want to know who I am? My real name is Irene Shepard. And I work for C-Sec, same as you, under Detective Dardonis.”

She took another deep breath before she continued. “I’ve been working Chora’s Den as an undercover agent for the past few months and this man here was possibly our one lead in our current case.”

Garrus was silent for some time, but he still didn’t lower his gun. Maybe he sensed that she told the truth, but it didn’t mean he completely trusted her just yet.

“We’ve been trying to bust a drug ring. This guy possibly had connections to its leaders. I was supposed to find out. But now I can’t because he’s _dead_.”

He slowly lowered his gun, putting it away and as did Irene with her own gun.

“Then you should contact the detective.” Garrus’ voice was lower than before. “He’s probably expecting your call.”

Right when Irene was about to snap at him about not needing him to tell her what to do, he turned briskly and left her with the mess.

Irene was _steaming_. First, the guy shows up and starts a big ruckus that results in her big fuck up, and then he just leaves her to deal with it all on her own. She had a mind to follow and drag him back, but after some thought she realized she just didn’t have the energy to go through with it.

Instead, she moved back to Adrien’s body and whipped out her omni-tool to contact Licinius, no matter how much she dreaded it.

“Irene?” He said as he appeared on screen. “Have you successfully made contact?”

Hesitation tinged her next words. “…The mission was a bust, detective.”

“What happened?”

“Everything was going according to our plan, in fact I was just about to make the exchange with him when we were confronted by someone who’d been following us.”

“Who was it?”

“It was Officer Vakarian, sir.”

“Garrus Vakarian?” The disbelief was clear in his tone, and she quelled her anger at the thought of Garrus.

“Yes. He had followed me out of Chora’s because he believed I was acting suspiciously with Adrien. When he confronted us, he actively tried to take us back to the authorities because of our dealings with red sand. Adrien became angry and attempted to shoot Officer Vakarian, so I was forced to respond in his defense.” She faltered for a moment before regaining the strength to continue. “Our lead is dead.”

Licinius’ mandibles flared. She could tell by his silence and his demeanor alone that he was very upset; it spoke volumes.

Finally, he said, “I want you to come into my office tomorrow morning. Eight sharp. I’ll contact Officer Vakarian as well. We’ll continue speaking there.”

 “…And the body, sir?”

“We’ll take care of it. Send me your coordinates and please wait there for the time being until the reinforcements come in to pick up the body.” And with that the call shut off.

After sending the requested coordinates, Irene’s shoulders slumped and she backed into the wall behind her, looking at the dead body on the ground.

She really had fucked up this time. It was _so_ easy to blame Garrus and his involvement; in fact a large part of her did and wouldn’t stop, but it still didn’t take away from the blame she placed on herself. She could have played some different role and gotten herself and Adrien out of there. She could have done literally _anything_ differently in the situation.

But, she didn’t.

Irene was really not looking forward to tomorrow morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I planned to have this chapter up a whole heck of a lot sooner than now but this semester really got me good and has given me a lot more work than I anticipated :( I've been itching to write and I actually had a little bit of free time so I got to work on this chapter that I'd had sitting in my drafts since early September!
> 
> Anyway, I also wanted to add that I do have a tumblr account for those that don't know under the username "saint-jimmys"! You can catch me on there for updates and whatnot for new chapters. I've been terrible at it lately but I'll try to have that set up so peeps don't think I dropped off the face of the Earth and forgot about my fics.
> 
> This was super long omg. But I hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

Licinius sat behind his desk and read silently from a datapad. It was only for a few moments, but to Irene it felt like an eternity before he finally placed the datapad back onto his desk and focused his attention on them.

Irene stood on the opposite side of his desk with Garrus towering next to her, both waiting for the detective to address them. Licinius said nothing as his eyes scanned them, eventually eliciting a long sigh as his gaze settled on Garrus. The detective seemed calm and collected, clearly having chosen to confront them today rather than the night before as to face the situation with a level head. Even though Licinius wasn’t the type to have great displays of anger, it was obvious when he was disappointed.

“This is becoming quite the problem, Officer Vakarian.” He drummed his talons on the desk. “You seem keen on breaking the regulations we have set in place. Though as I’m sure you realize, this is perhaps the most…serious dilemma that you’ve found yourself in thus far. What have you to say for yourself?”

“I did what I thought was right.” Garrus spoke up immediately. “There were numerous instances of her suspicious behavior, both inside and outside the club, ever since I first met her. They all added up and came to a head when I saw her associating with the red sand dealer. I couldn’t just stand there and let something happen. That’s why I went after them and—"

“Clearly,” Licinius cut in, interrupting Garrus’ explanation. “there’s a discrepancy here. What you think is right, and what C-Sec has dictated as correct procedure, is not the same thing. When you note suspicious activity, especially when off-duty, you report it to our offices at once.” He paused for a moment. “Plain and simple, your actions were completely out of line. Mounting an investigation on your own, especially with evidence that wasn’t concrete, holding others at gun point…”

“It was only a deterrent.”

_Why was this guy so fucking stubborn?_

“A deterrent? When you thought you were chasing criminals?” Licinius asked skeptically. “This could’ve ended badly for you had Shepard not interfered first.”

_Oh, boy. Here it comes._

“And you, Shepard.” His gaze fell onto hers. “I expected better from you. We’ve made it explicitly clear to you how important it is to keep confidential exchanges within the confines of your apartment. The risk that others might overhear you, especially those that may comprise our mission, is too great for having these conversations in public. It’s fortunate that it was only Officer Vakarian that overheard you and not someone else.” He leaned forward in his chair. “But there’s still one more matter. We’ve also discussed how close you are to get to those you meet while on the job. We know that it can be difficult not to associate so much with others given the line of work we’ve chosen for your persona, but it essential for you—especially while not in the club—to keep a distance. You cannot give them any leeway that may lead them towards discovering your true identity. It’s those ‘friendly’ associations that led Officer Vakarian to you in the first place.”

Irene bowed her head. “I realize that now, sir.” She gave no resistance as Garrus had done, for she at least saw the error in her ways. She had been sloppy in her work and that was unacceptable. “It won’t be happening again.”

Satisfied with her answer, Licinius nodded. Silence encompassed the room once again as the detective mulled over his next words. “Seeing as we were able to successfully clean up this mishap and have decided not to dismiss either of you on the basis of the potential you’ve both demonstrated, I’ve settled on two things.” He glanced at her. “Shepard, you’re lucky. _Very_ lucky. As of now, it seems the only person that caught you and Adrien leaving the club together was Officer Vakarian. Your undercover status has not been compromised and therefore you will continue to assume the alias we’ve given you until the fulfillment of the mission.” Then he looked over at Garrus. “And as for you, I’ve decided to make you her support out on the field.”

_What?_

“You will not be assuming any alias, but you will be sent several nights out of the week to venture into the club itself. In a sense, this will be your ‘undercover’ work as you will be going to the club as a paying customer, not an officer. You will also be responsible for helping Shepard out of any situation that may arise in which things go downhill. If you don’t happen to be in the club at the time, Shepard will be responsible for contacting you immediately.” Licinius picked up another datapad from his desk and began typing as he continued. “This will be done in addition to your usual hours and posting as to not arise suspicion.”

Irene could not believe this. Was this her punishment for messing up? Was this his punishment too? First, he screws over her mission, and now he was being paired up with her? This seemed like a joke.

“Now, I need a few minutes alone with Officer Vakarian.” The detective glanced at Irene. “I need you to wait outside until I call you back in.”

Irene suppressed the urge to voice her opinion on the matter, and instead opted to wait until she was summoned once again. With a nod, she left Garrus’ side and silently stepped out of the office.

 

* * *

 

His private meeting with Garrus didn’t last very long. Around ten minutes later, he emerged from the Licinius’ office and Irene heard the detective call her name. She made her way inside, gaze never once straying off to Garrus.

Once the door slid shut behind her, Licinius began to speak. “Shepard—”

“I can’t work with him.”

He blinked, not expecting this sort of response from her. “Quite frankly, I don’t think you’re in any sort of position to negotiate.”

“But he’s the reason why this mess began in the first place. He’s the one—”

“You _both_ had a part to play in this, Shepard. I think you’d best realize that and get over it sooner rather than later.” He folded his hands over his desk. “You’re partners now and if you keep up the animosity, it may cause more harm than good in the long run.”

“I don’t understand.” Irene shook her head. “Couldn’t there have been any other candidates? Other officers that would be better off in this position you’re putting him in?”

His mandibles flicked, clearly agitated at her unusual show of defiance. “Our decision to have him in this position is final.” He leaned forward, not caring to elaborate on their reasoning for placing him in the position. “I don’t want to hear any more of this, Shepard. If you don’t like the decision, we can easily remove you from the case.”

That shut her up.

“I see.” Licinius sat back again, taking her silence as an affirmation that she understood. “Well, in that case, I just wanted you to know that he’ll be starting with you next week. You’re to treat him just as you’ve always done whenever he’s stopped by the club. At the end of every week, we’ll all come together to have a debriefing. I still, however, would like you to call me during certain nights to alert me of any progress, or anything that may concern your new partner’s behavior.” He paused as if to let the information sink in. “Is that clear?”

So, now she was supposed to watch out for him too. _Great_.

“Yes, sir.”

“Alright. You’re dismissed.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Irene.”

She had burst through the sliding doors of the detective’s office and had already been half-way down the hall, ready to just lock herself away at home, when Garrus called out to her. She could have just ignored him, but for some damn reason she found herself angrily turning to face him.

“What do you want?” She snapped almost immediately.

He seemed hesitant. “About what happened—”

“Unless this is some sort of apology, I don’t want to hear it.”

“It isn’t.” He crossed his arms. “Why should I have to apologize?”

She could’ve sworn she felt her eye twitch at his response. “Why _wouldn’t_ you? You’re only the one who set us back on our mission.”

“Me? You’re the one who killed the only lead.”

“To save _your_ ass. If it weren’t for your need to play private investigator, that wouldn’t have even happened in the first place!”

“At the time, I felt that what I did was right. I had reason to suspect you, and I was—”

“Well, it doesn’t matter because you were wrong.” When it seemed that he intended to press on, she raised her hand up to prevent him from continuing. “Garrus…why don’t you just leave me alone?”

At that, Garrus could only really stare in silence. And in that moment, Irene turned on her heel and marched away.

 

* * *

 

 

“So, let me get this straight.” Thomas wrapped some noodles around his fork, smothering them further in the green asari concoction that tasted like marinara sauce. They were currently out at the Monte Cristo for lunch, sitting off at one of the corner tables where they were out of earshot from everyone else. Despite her insistence on wanting to stay at home, Thomas had managed to drag her out for food. “This turian—”

“Garrus.” Irene corrected.

“Okay, _Garrus_ , had been stalking you for the past how long?”

She poked her fork into her own meal. “More than a week.”

“Okay.” He said, nodding. “And he stalked you because he thought you were some criminal disguised as a stripper.”

“Exotic dancer.” She corrected again.

“Same thing.” He took a bite out of the noodles, chewing thoughtfully. “And _then_ , last night, he followed you out of the club in the middle of your ‘mission’ before threatening you and the guy you were with at gun point.”

“Yeah.”

“But that just pissed the guy off and a fight broke out. One that you ended by killing the guy even though you knew you needed important information from him.”

“Yes.”

He pointed his fork in her direction. “Then this morning, you both got in trouble with the detective, and now he’s having you two work together on the case.”

“You could say that, but we’re not really working together. He’s just going to be there occasionally as support, that’s all.” At least that’s how she was reasoning through it now.

“Damn.” Thomas sat back, eyeing her for a moment before laughing. “You really screwed the pooch this time.”

“I know.” Irene’s gaze sat on her food for a while before suddenly meeting his. “But, hey. He did too! If it weren’t for his annoying ass I wouldn’t have even gotten in this damn mess in the first place. I would’ve gotten in somehow with Adrien.”

“Hm.” He brought his glass to his lips as he took a drink. “Or maybe you wouldn’t have.”

She raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Hey, don’t get all defensive on me now. All I’m trying to say is that maybe this happened for a reason. Maybe things are going to be better off this way.” He shrugged before getting back to his food. “You never know, maybe he won’t be such a bad guy to work with.”

Irene rolled her eyes. “Oh, man not _that_ shit again.” She couldn’t help the small smile that crossed her lips. “I still think I knew what I was doing, and that this was quite possibly the worst thing that could’ve happened, but I guess I can’t change it now. I’ll just have to deal with this for however long it lasts.” Not wanting to focus on this topic for the rest of their outing, she immediately changed the topic. “So, how have you been liking it here? You got any plans for the week?”

“I’ve only just gotten here, you know.” He said, chuckling. “But it’s pretty great. All this bustle reminds me of L.A. And so far, I don’t really have much planned.” Thomas grinned at her. “I was actually hoping you could take me around when you have the time.”

“I’d love to.” She popped some of her food into her mouth. “I actually have a few places in mind that I’m sure you’d like.”

“How about toni—oh wait,” He frowned lightly. “I do have something planned for tonight. Well, technically I didn’t plan it. Some of the guys from the base that came out here with me wanted to go clubbing. They want to meet you, actually.”

She stopped mid-chew. “What? Why me?”

“I’ve kinda, sorta told them all about you.”

Irene gave him a knowing look. “You would. But I don’t think I can’t make it tonight.”

“Work?”

“Nah, I just don’t feel up for clubbing.”

“Really? C’mon, it’ll be nice. It’ll get your mind off everything that’s stressing you out.”

“Yeah, maybe, but I think I’d rather mope around at home this time around.”

He shook his head. “You are no fun. If you do change your mind at any point during the day though, you just let me know.”

“You really must want me to go, huh?”

“I’ve talked you up for these past few years, so yeah. I want be able to show you off.” He paused to reach for the dessert menu on the table. “Anyway, you think you could go for some dessert?”

“I think I could make some room.”

“Good,” he pointed to one of the pictures on the menu. “‘cause I’ve been eyeing this chocolate cake the whole time we’ve been here.”

And just like that, her worries eased for the time being. She didn’t need to go clubbing with some strangers to get that done. Being with Thomas like she was now made her feel more at peace than she had in quite some time.

 

* * *

 

 

Garrus sat in his apartment, hunched over his desk as he fidgeted with his sniper rifle. He’d have to have taken it apart and reassembled it at least five different times since he got home earlier in the day, carefully cleaning each individual section and making sure the parts were working as they should.

It wasn’t as if his rifle needed this excessive maintenance though; in fact, Garrus was pretty good about its upkeep. This was more for himself, to keep his mind off the night before and the events that transpired that morning. Fixing up his rifle was the only real way that he figured he could do just that. The only problem was that it was not really effective. Thoughts of the red sand dealer, Licinius, and Irene seemed to crawl back into his brain despite his efforts.

Irene in particular claimed his thoughts more often.

_Irene_.

It was strange, yet oddly satisfying to know her identity now. Not that he knew much about her aside from her real name and her actual career. And that she seemed to have quite the attitude.

Their last encounter that morning didn’t sit well with him. He couldn’t understand why she reacted the way she had, and why she insisted on receiving an apology from him. He had nothing to apologize for, at least he thought so, and it frustrated him that so many of them didn’t seem to understand the position he was coming from.

As he sat consumed by his own thoughts, spare parts in hand, he heard a ping at the door. He immediately stood from his seat, confused, as he placed the rifle parts back onto his desk. He turned to glance over at the monitor by the door.

_Who could be visiting him now?_

Truth be told, he wasn’t in the mood to entertain any guests, but he was curious to find out who it might be. Garrus walked up to the monitor as the door pinged again and turned on the screen. The person who stood on the opposite side of the door was none other than his own father, expression as stoic as ever.

Garrus visibly tensed upon seeing him, already anticipating what the reason behind this surprise visit would be. With a short sigh, he reluctantly had the door open for him.

Castis stood silently at the entrance, eyes boring into his son. “Garrus.”

With the way his father addressed him, he knew exactly where this was headed. The news must have gotten to him rather quickly through the chain of command, which made him surprised that his father hadn’t gotten to him a lot sooner. After a moment, Garrus stepped aside to let him into his apartment.

“If this is about what happened today I—”

“Just what in the spirits’ name were you thinking?” His father asked as the front door slid shut behind him. “Do you realize what this might have cost you had it gone further south than it did?”

Of course he knew. And at times, he found that he didn’t really mind it. The longer he worked for C-Sec, the more it seemed that he clashed with the system. Their inability to act when they needed to was a constant source of tension for him.

“I do know.”

“Do you? They could have dismissed you. Or worse, you could have gotten yourself _killed_.”

Garrus’ mandibles flared as he attempted to keep his composure despite the irritation he felt burning from within. The fact that his father had burst in to give him some sort of lesson as though he were still a child rubbed him the wrong way.

“I knew what I was getting myself into. C-Sec does nothing when it comes to cases like these, and that’s why the drug trade still runs rampant on the Citadel.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t just stand by and let what I saw happen. I had to do something.”

“By what? Placing yourself above the law and dispensing justice yourself? That’s not how this system works, Garrus, and clearly you should now see where playing vigilante gets you.” Castis turned his sharp gaze away from him, almost as if he were caught up in his own thoughts for a moment. “I expect this kind of reckless behavior from some of the newer officers on the force, but you? I thought I taught you better than that.”

His father’s last comment stung more than he anticipated, and it took him all of the power he could muster to not respond with a vicious retort. Instead he stood there silently, averting his own gaze.

“C-Sec’s regulations are there for a reason. I think it’s time you, as an officer, learn that and apply it to the new post they’ve given you.” He began walking towards the door, intent on leaving, but he paused right before exiting. “Do things right, Garrus, or don’t do them at all.”

And with those final words, he left just as quickly as he had arrived.

 

* * *

 

His father’s words had given Garrus a lot to think about, even hours after he had left. There was still much he found himself in conflict with, and figured he always would, but his argument also made him reconsider some of his own stances.

_Do things right, Garrus, or don’t do them at all._

He had to start from somewhere. Licinius had provided him with an opportunity to redeem himself, and possible the chance to do some good in addition to his usual post.

But he wasn’t alone in his new line of work this time.

Garrus had to work with Irene, the human woman that probably hated him now after the events that transpired. If they were to work together indefinitely, he had to do right by her and get them to the point where they would at least be civil with one another. Considering how things had left off that morning, it was up to him to take the first step.

After some quick digging, Garrus had figured out Irene’s address and now found himself standing at her front door. He couldn’t believe he was actually doing this, but after reflecting for so long he felt that this was the most appropriate set of actions.

Although he had been dead set on doing this the whole walk over to her apartment, he suddenly felt a tinge of hesitance. He didn’t know what to expect from her.

Would she accept his apology? Would she even be willing to talk to him? Was she even home?

He wasn’t sure, but he intended to find out.

Finally, he pressed the button at the door to send a ping her way and let her know that she had an unexpected visitor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that took me a while because of school :( Luckily I had written part of it when I posted the last chapter and have been gradually adding to it and fixing it ever since. 
> 
> Also a quick note, I always mean to reply to comments and then I genuinely forget to D: That won't be the case from now on. I'll try my best *^*)9
> 
> Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy :)

“Are you absolutely positive then?” Thomas asked, grabbing the jacket he’d left draping over the couch and throwing it on.

“My mind hasn’t changed since the last time you asked me.” Irene turned herself to face him. She was comfortably sprawled over her couch, fully prepared for the night in her loose tank top and shorts. “And that was what? Five minutes ago? Nothing you have to say will convince me to go.”

He loomed behind the couch now, hands resting on the rear cushions. “The guys are going to be upset that you aren’t tagging along.”

“I’m sure they’ll forget all about little ol’ me after a couple of drinks.” She gave him a smirk. “Plus, I’m already in my PJs. I couldn’t _possibly_ go out now.”

He stared at her momentarily before finally sighing in defeat. “Oh alright, but don’t say that I didn’t try to invite you—because I totally did.”

“I can absolutely guarantee that what you just said won’t be happening.” She began to wave at him. “Have fun and stay safe out there.”

“I will.” He walked up to the door and then turned to face her one last time with a grin. “Don’t wait up for me.”

“Go already!” She exclaimed, eliciting laughter from him as he walked through the door of her apartment and left.

Irene eyed the closed door before she turned once again, adjusting herself so that she could face the large television screen on the wall in front of her. With a flick of her wrist, she activated her omni-tool and set it to its universal control feature.

A Citadel news channel was the first to pop up as the screen glowed to life. There was an asari newscaster currently on, chatting away as she promoted one of the newest restaurants to open on the Presidium. After growing bored with it, Irene quickly began to flip through the other channels.

Eventually, she settled for a channel playing vintage human movies. When she was younger, she’d always been a fan of watching them, and this time was no exception. They were even playing one of her favorites, _Miss Congeniality_. It was on commercial break, but the heading as she switched to the channel let her know it was playing.

Excited at the prospect of knowing what she would do for the rest of the night, she leapt from the couch and sauntered to the kitchen to grab a snack before the movie came back on. As she rummaged through her fridge, however, Irene was alerted of someone’s presence at the door.

She stopped what she was doing and pulled back from the fridge, brows furrowing together.

_Had Thomas come back that soon?_

Irene had her doubts as she closed the fridge and walked from the kitchen to the front door. She knew better than to open the door without checking who was outside first, which prompted her to activate the small monitor off on the side wall to find out who had stopped by.

The person outside was definitely _not_ whom she’d anticipated.

She felt a sudden surge of irritation burst in her chest, causing her to immediately turn on the speaker so that she could be heard by the person outside.

“How the fuck did you get my address?”

Garrus shifted his weight uncomfortably at her inquiry, gaze trained on the outside camera. “I asked around.”

_Asked around?_ Was her information so readily available to him now that they were partners?

“I thought I made it explicitly clear that I didn’t want to be bothered.”

“You did, I know. And believe me when I say that I got the message loud and clear. But I’ve been doing some thinking and I really need to talk to you.”

“Why?” She crossed her arms across her chest. “To try to convince me that you were right? I think I’ve had enough of that for one day, thank you very much.”

“No…I’m actually here to apologize.”

That statement gave Irene pause. She eyed his expression on screen suspiciously, but ultimately couldn’t decipher whether his intentions were sincere or not.

“Really? You’re here to apologize?” Disbelief colored her tone for he hadn’t exactly been eager to apologize to her that morning.

“Yeah,” He began with a twitch of his mandibles. “But I know I’ve been acting like a real asshole lately, so I’d understand if you didn’t want to hear me out.”

She remained silent for quite a while as she watched him on screen, mind reeling over what decision she should make. At her silence, he lowered his head and began to turn away, perhaps taking it as a sign that she had no intention of listening to him.

In that instant, she quickly opened the front door to see him.

“Garrus, wait.” Irene took a couple of steps outside as she followed after him. She wasn’t sure why she was giving him the time of day, but for some reason she felt it had to do with what Thomas had expressed that afternoon.

When he turned to face her, she motioned towards the inside of her apartment with her hand. “Just come in.”

 

* * *

 

Although a brief surge of hesitation coursed through him, Garrus listened and walked right past her into the apartment. He was genuinely surprised that Irene had relented, for he personally hadn’t believed he’d get this far with her. He thought that she would’ve immediately turned him down. That or not even dignify him with a response altogether.

He took in her apartment for a few seconds, noting the simple yet elegant decor. This wasn’t truly her home, at least not for the time being given her line of work, so it explained why he didn’t necessarily get a sense of her personality from it.

Awkward silence filled the room as Irene followed him inside, door sliding shut behind her. She shut off the monitor by the door before finally pointing to the couch.

“Uh, you can sit down if you want.”

Garrus nodded at her suggestion, walking over to the couch and sinking down—a lot lower than he expected. As he unintentionally took up most of the space, Irene came to stand a few feet away from him with her arms neatly folded across her chest.

“Well, alright. I’m listening.”

He placed his hands over his thighs and breathed out a sigh, not knowing how much he should tell her. “I couldn’t stop replaying what happened this morning in my head. And even though I tried everything to distract myself, I just kept thinking about how I’d run you off and how it didn’t sit well with me.” He glanced at his hands. “This all started because I really didn’t want to admit that I was wrong. And I got nothing but my own pride to thank for that. But now, I know where I went wrong.”

She said nothing at his brief pause, clearly waiting on him to continue.

“…And I’m also getting another opportunity, maybe to do some good, and I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot. Especially when we’re going to be working together.” He scratched at his fringe. “So, I’d like for us to be on civil terms at least and uh… _shit_. Did any of that make sense? I’m not really good at this sort of thing.” Garrus shook his head. “I guess what I really want to say is that I’m sorry. Genuinely sorry.”

Garrus felt tense as another bout of silence enveloped them. He didn’t dare look at her now, but just when he’d been about to break the silence again, he heard her laugh.

Immediately, he looked up. “What? What are you laughing at?”

Irene couldn’t answer him at first, seemingly too caught up in her own amusement towards the situation. Eventually she fought off laughter and smiled at him, catching Garrus by complete surprise. “I just can’t believe this is happening. I never imagined you would ever do all this.” She motioned towards him with her hand. “You’ve always came off as a stuck-up guy, I guess.”

“Stuck up?”

“Yeah, I mean come on now. You can’t deny it.” She cocked her head to the side. “Have you looked in a mirror?”

“Obviously, but I wouldn’t…” It took him a moment to realize that what she was saying was a figure of speech, and to recall similar comments made by others in the past. “Okay, so maybe I’ve gotten that a few times, but I’m really not a stuck-up guy. People always get the wrong impression of me.”

“Uh-huh. Knew it.” Her smug facade suddenly took on a soberer appearance. “But don’t think I’ve forgiven you just yet. I still need some time to really get over it.”

“I didn’t expect you to.” He said. “All I wanted was for you to hear me out.”

Irene nodded slowly, turning to the glance at the television screen on the wall. His eyes followed hers, watching as she turned off the screen that had been playing some human movie he didn’t recognize.

“So…what now?” She focused her attention on him again. “Can I get you anything? I mean, fuck, I think I can only offer you water. I don’t have any dextro stuff.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Garrus waved it off. “But to answer your first question, I’m not really sure. I honestly didn’t think I’d make it this far.” He paused as he mulled it over. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try to get to know each other a little better. What do you think?”

“Maybe you’re right. Why don’t you start?”

“Me? But I—” He had been about to protest, but one look at her and he decided against it. Things had only just become civil after all, and he wasn’t about to ruin what little progress he’d made. “Okay, well, I was born and raised on Palaven. And like any other good turian, I enlisted in the military as soon as I was able. I spent a few years there and thought about becoming a Spectre, but that didn’t really work out.”

“A Spectre?”

“Based on my record, they saw me as a potential candidate.” At seeing her eyes light up, he continued. “But trust me, I wasn’t all that special. There were about another thousand recruits that were candidates too.”

“I still think it’s pretty neat. Clearly you must’ve impressed the right people.” She tilted her head to the side. “What stopped you from going through with it?”

“My father.” He began, leaning back on the couch. “He doesn’t like all the freedoms Spectres get, or how they carry themselves above the law. So, I chose to work for C-Sec instead, just like him. Sure made him proud when I made that decision.” The last part he added rather sarcastically, causing Irene to arch a brow.

“Your dad works for C-Sec? Who is he?”

“Castis Vakarian. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

“I have. He’s kind of a big shot, isn’t he? I never would’ve made the connection between you two had you not told me, to be completely honest.” She paused. “So, what’s the deal there?”

“What deal?”

“It doesn’t sound like you’re on good terms with him.”

He really couldn’t have made it obvious enough. “It’s…a lot to explain. A lot of unresolved family issues, I guess.”

Irene left it at that and Garrus was grateful that she didn’t seem to be the type to pry, unlike most of his human co-workers. They were always quite the inquisitive bunch.

“How’s it been like?” She then continued. “I mean, how’s your experience been like working for C-Sec?”

“It’s had its ups and downs. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy what I do, but what I’m not so crazy about is all the damn regulations. The red tape is always more trouble than it’s worth out on the field—though that’s just my take on it.” He didn’t continue, for he wasn’t really in the mood to get into the intricacies of his stance now, especially given what had happened. “But enough about me. What’s your real story?”

She looked at him for a moment and moved to sit not too far from the turian, sinking to the floor into a cross-legged position. “Well, I’m not really from Terra Nova, as I’d told you. I was born on Earth and lived there my whole life up until a few years ago. It wasn’t always easy.”

“How so?”

“I was an orphan. Lived on the streets for years with a friend I met by chance; a friend who pretty much became like family to me. Once we were old enough, we enlisted in the Alliance. We thought of it as our one shot at a better life.” A smile crossed her lips. “I never expected that the path I chose then would lead me to C-Sec, but here I am. And I don’t regret a moment of it.”

Now, it was his turn to ask the questions.

“Is C-Sec what you expected it to be?”

“Well, yes and no.”

“Why the ‘no’?”

“It’s about the scope. There are just so many different people with all kinds of backgrounds here on the Citadel…and all of them are relying on your work. They’re counting on you to uphold the law and keep them safe. It’s a little scary to think about.” She paused, brows drawing together. “Obviously, I know that I don’t play a direct part in that, but I— _we’re_ a part of something larger. And that something is us coming together to make the station safer for everyone.”

Her determination almost reminded Garrus of himself. Although it seemed they both had their own methods towards achieving that justice for all, they weren’t too far off in their goals. It was a nice surprise.

“Unfortunately, a lot of our co-workers take that for granted.”

“And I wouldn’t expect anything less from some of them.” Her brown eyes shone with what he believed was resolve. “But that’s why people like you and I have to step up and do some good.”

***

It seemed as if they talked for hours after that. About themselves, about anything really. Yet, for as much as they recounted about one another, Garrus could not say that he had finally “figured her out”. The mystery that was Irene, not Amber, only grew and hung over him like a cloud.

This was the same strain of interest that had gotten him investigating Amber when he first met her at Chora’s Den, only this time it was in a completely different light. Irene was to be his partner now, for better or for worst, and the desire to know what else drove her persisted.

He took one last drink from the cup of water that Irene had finally gotten him to take before standing from the couch and stretching his joints.

“Well, I probably should get going now.”

“Man…” Irene checked the time on her omni-tool before getting up herself. “I didn’t even realize that it was this late.”

“What’s that saying humans have? Time flies?”

“It’s ‘time flies when you’re having fun’.” She grinned as she led him to the door. “Are you saying you had fun?”

“I can’t exactly say it _wasn’t_ interesting.” He responded, following behind her.

“Uh-huh. I guess I’ll take that.” Irene pressed one of the buttons by the monitor and the door slid open. “But it’s time we both get a little shut eye. I imagine we’ve got a long week ahead of us in a few days.”

“Yeah, we definitely do.” He stood by the opened door, nodding. “I’ll be seeing you soon then.”

“See you then.”

 

* * *

 

 

Irene watched him walk away from her apartment. This surprise visit from Garrus was not at all what she expected. Hell, _he_ was not what she expected. And although there was still much to learn about him, she knew now that what Thomas had said was right.

She hated when he was right.

Speaking of the devil, just as she’d been about to close her front door, she caught a glimpse of Thomas being towed over to her apartment by his friends. Two of them held Thomas from either side, his arms thrown over their shoulders as his head hung down. Another friend simply strolled behind them. And all of them, save for Thomas, were laughing up a storm.

When they noticed her, they hurried their pace as best they could.

The one in the back finally spoke up. “You must be Ir—!”

“Yep. Yeah. That’s me.” She cut in immediately, preventing him from spilling her true name in his drunken stupor.

“Nice to finally meet ya.” He nodded to the passed-out Thomas. “Where should we leave him?”

“On the couch will be fine.” She moved to the side, giving them room to move past her and clumsily plop him down on the couch. She smiled when they finished and quickly began to shoo them out. “Alright, thanks. I’ll take it from here.”

Despite their protests and nonsense explanations as to what happened, she managed to get them out and close the door behind them.

She looked at Thomas for a moment before gathering up essentials for him. She made him comfortable on the couch by laying him down with a pillow under his head and a clean blanket over his body. She even placed one of the small trash bins from the bathroom by his side and a set of painkillers along with some water at the end table, just in case.

Once satisfied with her work, she turned off the lights and sauntered to her bedroom, ready to finally let sleep consume her.


End file.
